Hey everyone! Im new and looking for a buddy. I had a baby 4months ago and im trying to lose around 4 stones. Im not on any kind of diet. Just watching what i eat really. And exercising, something that im not used to lol. Not trying to eat as much junk and chocolate, which is really hard to give up! Anyone willing to help me out or give me some advice? That'l be great! :help2:

MY ADVICE is before starting to really 'diet' or calorie count, make a note of everything you eat over a few days, and of the calories it contains. i think it really opens up your eyes to how many cals u waste!

I'm a similar weight, same height, sim. amount to lose (although I'm not quite sure I'm ambitious enough to aim for a BMI of 21!!!

I've been toying with very low calorie diets for a few weeks and was supposed to start Cambridge Diet today, but have done an about-turn and want to just go for healthy eating. Worth a try anyway, Cambridge diet will still be there in a few weeks if this doesn't work out...

What are your diet and exercise plans, numberone? are you setting yourself any rules?

And to Fatgirlslims, im exercising everyday! 30mins a day, also power walk for an hour. Ive set myself some strict food rules, like NO crisps, *which im doing quite well in, havent had 1 in 3months*. No more than 2 snacks a day! Trying not to eat much chocolate, which is HARD! But if i do, only 2 pieces! No fizzy drinks! No fast food *this ones very hard, because my husband loves his McDonalds and perfect fried chicken*. I dont really know how many calories i should be consuming to lose weight. Whats your calorie intake?

I'm also trying to exercise 30 mins a day, but it tends to be sometimes more, sometimes less (last night I ran for 50 mins, today I haven't done anything), but I'm a single mum to a 3 and a 4 year old so I don't always have the opportunity. Plus even on my off days I'm quite active, that's never been my problem - the problem is definitely food!!!

I'm trying to keep under 1500 kcal, but I've only been doing it two days (yesterday I did 1200, today I'm on 800 so far). I'm going to up it because what tends to happen is I eat too little then binge.

Ideally I'd just like to eat healthily and not count, but need to get up and running first...I've been trying to diet since January but all I've done is end up a stone heavier...not this time, though.

Have you just got the one little one? You breastfeeding?

Are you going to count calories or stick to healthy eating without counting?

Yeah just the one! I stopped breastfeeding last month. I thought breastfeeding would help with the weight loss but it never made a difference. I think im going to count calories because i normaly tend to eat big portions. But im abit lost on how to count calories when it comes to cereal, and loose food. How do i know the amount i pour is the right amount?

Sadly I think weighing is the only way (although sometimes I go for the slightly more expensive option of buying packaged portions, e.g. oat so simple).

I struggle in the afternoon. Breakfast, fine, Lunch, fine, then I want a snack about 3, something with the girls tea at about 5, my tea at about 8pm...constant eating!

I think I've devised a plan. I'm going to aim for 1300 calories, but will be happy if it's anything under 1500. The split gives me:

300kcal for breakfast, 300kcal for lunch, 400kcal for tea (at 5pm with the girls) and then 300kcal either for snacks during the afternoon or for a treat in the evening. I'm aiming to lose 2lbs a week, fingers crossed that this works!

I lost stacks of weight whilst breastfeeding by doing Weight Watchers (4 stone), but it went back on straight away once I stopped - I was still eating as if I was breastfeeding, and my appetite was HUGE! Wish I'd been able to control it. I put 3 and a bit stone back on, but have now dropped nearly a stone so have got another 2 and a half stone to get back to where I was. Then I want to lose another stone on top of that.

My weak point starts at 6 until i go bed! I constantly think about food! I just feel like snacking the whole time, so i have to find something that takes my mind off it. I find it quite difficult. Im always digging around the fridge looking for something to eat. My fridge looks so funny, because ive stuck post it notes with reminders about my weight gain haha. My kitchen cupboards also have post it notes! Its starting to look abit daft, well hey, atleast it keeps me on my toes! What snacks do you mostly crave for?

Well, it depends if I'm on diet or not. If I've started a diet, usually I do really well for a few days - a bit too well, v good at going under my calories etc. and then I end up binging and throwing in the towel. Trying not to do that this time.

I put most of my weight on having kids, but have lost and gained loads since then (the same 1.5 stone endlessly) because I have a silly diet mentality - you know, start again on monday (stuff your face until then), or if i go over e.g. by 100kcal, I've blown it may as well eat what I want and start again tomorrow.

I love sugar. It really gives me a high, which is so useful when kids not sleeping etc. If I'm tired that's what I crave. Chocolate, haribo, donuts, anything sweet really. So I'm off the sugar as much as possible (the odd treat but definitely not using it to pick me up when I'm tired).

Coffee is another matter...I just can't give that up at the mo. I can't lose all my stimulants....!

I love the idea of the post it notes! I work from home though so I have to avoid too many embarassing things downstairs because anyone who comes over will see it!!! I do have post it notes with motivational phrases in my bedroom...things like a picture of a sailing boat and the quote "You can't direct the wind but you can adjust the sail" and "If you do what you've always done, you'll get what you've always got"...and little snippets of horoscopes when they're particularly positive or motivational! How sad am I...

I stay home with my little boy, which is why im always surrounded by food! By the way, i read the link you sent me and i think it makes sense. I would like to weigh around 126pounds, and for that it says to consume 1718 calories to maintain. But im still worried that i wont lose much. What do you think?

I dropped it down a little bit from what they recommended, I'm sticking to more or less 1500 (unless I'm exercising in which case I may take it a little higher) but they recommend 1700-ish. I guess it depends on how fast you want to lose. I have a deadline of beginning of September by which I'd like to lose a nice chunk of weight (ideally 2 stone but I may be being over optimistic), and after that I don't mind taking it slowly.

I'm going to start Teacher Training in September, so need a smarter wardrobe (I live in jeans at the moment!). I don't want to buy it in a size 16-18. If I can lose 2 stone, maybe I could buy it in a 14...that'd be FAB!

After that I think it's going to get stressful, with less time to exercise, so I'd be happy to maintain / lose more slowly for a while. And god forbid I'm a size 18 this Christmas / New Year's Eve as I was last year...bad enough being single, let alone fat and single!!!

Im aiming to lose some weight by August, as theres a family occasion. Then lose some more weight by November, for my 20th. Problem with me is im so unpatient, i just want to lose weight asap because my confidence is really low. My weight is constantly on my mind, that i even dream about it. Im also a size 16 in jeans. Far from a size 10, god knows if il ever be that size again! Maybe im just asking for too much. I really hope we manage to lose a few stones! Better than losing nothing.

Hey, both you guys are doing great. I'm always up for a diet buddy, its great to have someone to talk to about diet stuff.

Numberone, it sounds like your off to a great start, and the exercise that your doing will definately make a difference, I have lost nearly 3 stone, but still have another 4 odd left, I have beat the sugar addictions, I was addicted to that chocolate high at night time, my nights are so boring now without my munchies, but I always say to myself...my desire to be skinny is greater than my desire to eat chocolate. I had really bad headaches when I came off the chocolate, but now I dont even crave it, its amazing how your attitude changes.

I am calorie counting too, although im on slightly less cals than you's guys (1000 per day), I find it a great way to lose weight, mines has been around 2/3lbs a week, I need to step up my exercise though as I always have losses of around 5lbs on weeks I exercise.

Hello Littlemiss! I can't believe you survive on 1000kcal! That's amazing, well done! And three stone...you must really feel (and see) the difference - congratulations!

Sugar was my enemy too - it's so addictive. I still have a little but not every day.

What sort of things do you eat? I'd love to know what you can eat on 1000kcal...do you feel tired at all, or hungry?

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Hey, thanks for your comments, I'm not quite 3 stone yet, I can see an overall difference in my body, most of my weight has dissapeared from my face, neck shoulders, stomach, but I cant seem to shift as much on my thighs and lower legs, its a nightmare, although I have dropped a trouser size so I suppose its not too bad, everyone's been telling me how different I look, but I still look fat, and I dont want to get too comfortable with how I weigh, as thats how my other diets have failed, I kept losing and gaining the same 2 stone years ago because i would only set myself a goal of 2 stone, and as soon as i'd done that, i'd go back to eating normally.

Im not kidding myself anymore, I am sick of saying im on a diet and not lose weight, I have been around 15 stone for all of my daughters life and she's 5 in 3 weeks.

For me my biggest struggle was with food addiction, it really is so hard, I had to go low with the cals, as I was too afraid that if I ate some of the things I like I will be more prone to binge, as I literally cant have 1 bit of chocolate, so for me this has been great, i dont have any chocolatey things in my diet as they distract me, im better cold turkey.

I get plenty out of my 1000 cals - 171 for either rice crispies and milk or special K and milk for b.fast

How bizarre, my daughters 5 on 18th June, about 3 weeks away! When was yours born?

Thank you for sharing your menu. I have foods I have to avoid too - can't have real chocolate (fine with a low fat bar, but couldn't control myself with the real stuff), bizarrely can't have rice cakes either (will eat the whole packet, with butter on top, yum) and def. no white bread in our house. Nor crisps. Nor biscuits. Actually, now I think about it, the list is quite long! The kids tend to get treats that I don't like (e.g. minirolls). Going to be harder when they're older, but hopefully I'll be more in control then.

I have to confess, I eat loads. I tend to have between 1300-1500 kcals a day (mind you, this is only my fifth day!) and try to do 30-60 mins exercise a day.

Not even twenty, so young to have a baby. That must be quite tough (although delightful too...) My birthday's 10th November, when's yours?

I'm impatient too. I think, oh yeah, I've been doing this for ages now (well 4 days anyway), I must be able to see a difference - and am disappointed when I can't!

Well, glad to be through another day. We've just got to keep plugging on, I guess. Any good food planned for tomorrow? I'm trying to write a plan the day before, but I'm not very disciplined at it.

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My birthdays on 11th November! Wow. And i dont really have any plans for tomorrow. I think thats why i normally find it difficult to eat healthy. I just make a sandwhich, roll or cook some noodle and add some spices like chilli, cayenne pepper etc. It gets boring though. My own fault as im too lazy to make anything nice!

Wow you've lost 3 stones. Thats great! If you can lose 3 stones, you can certainly lose 4! And i think you're doing so well with the 1000 cals. I'll never be able to do that! Do you ever feel light headed? Sometimes i do. I consume 1300 a day, sometimes less.

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